गुणैः स्वैर्हीना मे यदपि कविता नातिमधुरा
सतां स्वाद्याथाप्यच्युतगुणयुतत्वेन भविता ।
अयःशस्त्री स्पृष्टा मृगयुगृहगा स्पर्शमणिना
सुवर्णत्वं प्राप्ता भवति महतां भूषणकृते ॥
guṇaiḥ svair hīnā me yadapi kavitā nātimadhurā
satāṁ svādyāthāpy acyuta-guṇa-yutatvena bhavitā |
ayaḥ-śastrī spṛṣṭā mṛgayu-gṛha-gā sparśa-maṇinā
suvarṇatvaṁ prāptā bhavati mahatāṁ bhūṣaṇa-kṛte ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 16.5)
[On the order of Vṛndā following the indication of Rādhā, a parrot begins to speak in praise of Kṛṣṇa:] “Although my poetry is deficient in its own attributes and not very sweet, still it shall be relishable to sādhus because of it being endowed with [descriptions of] the qualities of Acyuta, since [even] an iron knife situated in the home of a hunter that has been touched by a touchstone and attained the state of being golden becomes suitable for decorating a great person.”
Commentary
Iron is considered to be a metal possessing very few desirable attributes. An iron knife is made of a very small amount of iron. An iron knife in the home of a hunter is one that is used to cut animal flesh and is thus considered highly contaminated. Despite all of this, if such a small and contaminated quantity of iron comes in touch with a touchstone, it turns into gold, that is, it becomes endowed with highly desirable attributes, and is thereafter considered completely pure and suitable for the ultimate function any metal can perform: decorating an exalted person. The speaker compares himself to a hunter, that is, a person considered most devoid of refined culture, his poetry to a small quantity of contaminated iron, Śrī Kṛṣṇa to a touchstone, and Kṛṣṇa’s qualities to the touch of a touchstone. Thus he implies that although he may be considered uncultured and his poetry may be considered meagre and faulty and thus lacking in aesthetic value, still it shall become endearing and pleasing to the cultured by virtue of its subject being Kṛṣṇa’s qualities, which possess the incomprehensible power of transforming any speech in which they appear into something admirable.